The ''Daily Emerald'' is the independent, student-run weekly newspaper produced at the University of Oregon in

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast. As of the 2020 United States Census, Eu ...

, United States. Its predecessor, the ''Oregon Daily Emerald'' newspaper, founded in 1899, trained many prominent writers and journalists and made important contributions to journalism case law. Currently, the ''Daily Emerald'' publishes a weekly newspaper.

Publishing

The ''Daily Emerald'' and associated publications, including the quarterly magazine ''Ethos'', are published by the Emerald Media Group. The ''Emerald'' operates quasi-independently of the university with offices in Suite 302 and 305 of the Erb Memorial Union.

History

''State v. Buchanan''

On May 24, 1966, the ''Emerald'' ran a story, "Students Condone Marijuana Use," by author Annette Buchanan, which included seven unnamed sources discussing their drug use. The interviews were granted under the condition that the sources' names would not be revealed. After reading Buchanan's story, local law enforcement officials convened a grand jury investigation into the illegal use of drugs. On June 1, 1966, the Lane County District Attorney subpoenas Buchanan, requesting names of sources. Buchanan refused and was fined $300 for contempt of court. The case went through the court system until the Oregon Supreme Court dismissed Buchanan's claim that the

Oregon Constitution The Oregon Constitution is the governing document of the U.S. state of Oregon, originally enacted in 1857. As amended the current state constitution contains eighteen sections, beginning with a bill of rights.

protected her. In 1968 the U.S. Supreme Court refused to grant ''

certiorari In law, ''certiorari'' is a court process to seek judicial review of a decision of a lower court or government agency. ''Certiorari'' comes from the name of an English prerogative writ, issued by a superior court to direct that the record of ...

''. Subsequently, the

Oregon Legislative Assembly The Oregon Legislative Assembly is the state legislature for the U.S. state of Oregon. The Legislative Assembly is bicameral, consisting of an upper and lower house: the Senate, whose 30 members are elected to serve four-year terms; and the Ho ...

passed a journalistic shield law (ORS 44.510 through 44.540). The

Oregon Shield Law A shield law is legislation designed to protect reporters' privilege. This privilege involves the right of news reporters to refuse to testify as to the information and/or sources of information obtained during the news gathering and disseminatio ...

provides extensive protection for all members of the news and information media. The statute provides absolute protection from compelled disclosure of both sources and all information obtained by journalists in the course of their work. It is not clear whether the journalist must have promised confidentiality for the source of information to be covered by the law. The only exceptions to the Oregon statute exist where: (1) there is probable cause to believe that the journalist has or is about to commit a crime or (2) where the defendant in a defamation suit has asserted a defense based on the content or source of the information.

Fire this…FUCK CENSORSHIP

On Oct. 1, 2007, the Emerald's Monday print edition had its second page swapped with The Daily Barometer — the student newspaper at Oregon State University. Somehow, The Daily Barometer's second page had ended up in both papers. Kathy Carbone, the paper's business manager at the time, said the printer claimed the swap was accidental, but she believes it was on purpose and said the paper's staff considered it an act of censorship. The Daily Emerald's second page featured in an opinion piece written by the Emerald's editorial board with the headline “Fire this…FUCK CENSORSHIP.” The last half of the title was written in big, bold letters across the page. The article was in response to

Colorado State University Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a public land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University System. Colorado State University is classified among "R1: ...

authorities discussing whether to fire

Rocky Mountain Collegian The ''Rocky Mountain Collegian'' is the daily student newspaper of Colorado State University. Founded in 1891, the paper is one of the oldest daily student newspapers west of the Mississippi River and is the only student-run daily newspaper in th ...

editor-in-chief David McSwane over a published four worded article in the paper that read “Tase this… FUCK BUSH”. The article was in response to the

University of Florida Taser incident On September 17, 2007, a University of Florida student was stunned by police with a Taser at a forum featuring then– U.S. Senator John Kerry. Kerry was addressing a Constitution Day forum at the University of Florida campus in Gainesville, w ...

. The Daily Emerald's article ended up being published in the paper the following day on Oct. 2, 2007. The paper received some backlash for the article from members of the local community. On Oct.17, 2007, the Daily Emerald published a letter to the editor written by

resident Lisa Priaulx. In her letter, titled "Profane headline makes Emerald look immature and unprofessional ", she writes in opposition of the headline. At The Daily Emerald's end-of-year celebration, the paper's staff presented editor-in-chief Laura Powers with a framed copy of the “Fire this…FUCK CENSORSHIP” page.

Newsroom strike

On March 3, 2009, following a management dispute between student staffers and the paper's board of directors, newsroom members at the ''Oregon Daily Emerald'' decided to strike, citing board actions as threatening to the independence of the ''Emerald''. They issued four demands to the board at its scheduled executive session on March 3, and printed an editorial in the paper the following day that also contained the requests. The demands were as follows: #Immediately rescind the offer to Steven A. Smith to serve as interim publisher April 1, 2009 through June 30, 2010. #Conduct a nationwide search for a publisher, as originally voted at the February 10 board meeting. #Stipulate in the chosen publisher's contract that he or she shall not be employed in any capacity by the university, including at the School of Journalism and Communication. #Stipulate in the chosen publisher's contract that he or she shall not have immediate supervisory control over the editor; rather, the publisher and student editor shall remain equals in the organization, as the general manager and student editor currently are. On March 4, 2009, Steven Smith announced his intention to "withdraw from the fray" following notification of the student strike. The Board of Directors later stated their intention to conduct a nationwide search. The ''Oregon Daily Emerald'' published a newspaper on the morning of March 5, 2009, without the contributions of the newsroom staff. A flurry of media coverage on the strike ensued throughout the day. Following statements of support for the strikers by the Associated Students of the University of Oregon, community members and other student publications around the United States, the board of directors and the newsroom staff agreed to engage in a mediation process the following week to fully resolve the situation. The newsroom staff agreed to end the strike and resume publishing the newspaper on March 9, 2009.

Going digital

In fall 2012, the Oregon Daily Emerald Publishing Company, Inc. transitioned to a new entity, the Emerald Media Group. Today, the ''Daily Emerald'' publishes a weekly print newspaper as well as online, as well as publishing multimedia, such as video and podcasts through their website.

Notable editors

Richard L. Neuberger Richard Lewis Neuberger (December 26, 1912March 9, 1960) was an American journalist, author, and politician during the middle of the 20th century. A native of Oregon, he wrote for ''The New York Times'' before and after a stint in the U.S. Army d ...

1932–33, journalist, author, and Senator * Paul Brainerd 1969–70, Pagemaker and desktop publishing creator, Aldus Corporation founder * Grattan Kerans 1970–71, Oregon State Legislator

Notable former staff members

* Randy Shilts, author, '' And the Band Played On''

References

Notes

External links

* {{University of Oregon 1899 establishments in Oregon American student news websites Mass media in Eugene, Oregon Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association Newspapers established in 1899 Student newspapers published in Oregon University of Oregon